Freight box car



May 28, 1929. J. P. PORTER FREIGHT BOX CAR Filed May 15, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet l May 28, 1929. J. P. PORTER FREIGHT BOX CAR Filed May 15, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I avwento'b May 28, 1929. PORTER 1,715,307

FREIGHT BOX CAR Filed May 15, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig- 7: 11

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Patented May 28, 1929.

UNITED srA'r t an? JOHNSTON P. PORTER, 0F PORTLAND, OREGON.

FREIGHT Application filed May 15,

This invention relates to improvements in freight box-cars, one object of the invention being the provision of a box car with means whereby grain, coal or coke may be loaded through the top thereof, and whereby the contents of said car may be unloaded through the bottom thereof.

A further object of this invention is the provision of means located in the bottom of a box-car, the bottom of which is flat, whereby openings in the bottom of the car maybe closed when the car is loaded and in transit,

trips.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a means'for operating the closures in the bottom of the car in a simple and inexpensive manner, and the provision of a locking device whereby all of the 010- sure-operating members may be simultaneously locked or released to permit the speedy opening andrclosing of the various closures and the consequent release of the contents of thecar. Q 7 1 In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation ofthe greater portion of a box-car showing the door or closure of one of the loading hoppers open and With the operating handle for actuating the floor closures in elevation; l Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view through a complete car looking towardthe floor thereof and illustrating the positionof the unloading openings thereof; I

Figure. 3 is a-longitudinal sectionalview centrally of one ofjthe longitudinal rows of unloading openings of the car floor;

Figure l is an enlarged detail sectional view of one of the openings in the car floor and its closure-and. operating mechanism Figure 5 is a cross-section on line 55 of Figure/l. g p v '7 Figure 6 is a section taken on line 6-6 of Figure 7 i is a sectional view taken centrally of the canon the line 7 7, Figure'5 and show- T BOX GAR;

1928. Serial. No. 277,871.

ing two of thelocking members or looks con- 7 nected to their operatingrod;

Figure 8 is a View, on an enlarged scale, of

the means for locking and sealing the lockoperating rod shown at the right-hand end of Figure'i; v v v Figure 9 is a view taken from the left of Figure 8 ;'and i i Figure 10 is a cros ssect1on through the top of the car showing one of the loading hatches of which the dooror closure is shownin closedposition. i 7

Referring. to the'drawings, the numeral 11 designates the box-car proper which is here indicative of any type of boX-carwith the side opening door D or any typeof opening where by the car may be used for general purposes, as is the present practice.

Distributed throughout thelengthof the roof of the'car are a plurality of hatches 12 which constitute the loading openings for the present arrangement; each one of which is'provided witha hinged door'13 for closing the same, as'illu'strated in Figures 1 and 10. By this arrange ment it is merely necessary for the doors 13 to be raised and the varioushoppers.disposed in cooperative relation withthe outlet spouts of thegrain'elevators or fuel hoppers'so thatthe cargo to be received within the car maybe loaded through .these openings,

The floor 14 of the car is of usual construc l I tion, and upon each side of the longitudinal, v I} I center thereof and'also upon'each side of the reinforcing beam 13 aredisposed'or'formed i V a plurality of unloadingopenings 15, the same being shown'rectangular in shape, as illustrated in Figure 2, andbeing positioned as there illustrated so as to produceflthe best results and at the same time avoid-interfer-' ence with any'of the underhung mechanism or beams of the car. 1 1

Disposed beneath the floor, at and parallel to the longitudinal edges of each opening 15, are the-two1guidemembers '16 for the flat plate]closure 17; each of ,which closures, when closed, as, illustrated inFig 1 one side of i i ure 4:, having its free end 17 seated beneat i the adj acent portion of the floor and uponthe' I angle iron 17. Attached tothe under sidev of each ofthese closures 17 are two parallel gears 19 keyed to and rotatable with a clo-f V "raok bars 18, the teeth of which mesh with I I 7 sure operating shaft 20,'this shaft, as clearlyfillustrated in Figur'es l, 5 -an'd. 6, being .iQu 'Ila ed in here pe ti e be s M so that the irregularly shaped end 21 of said shaft will be disposedexteriorly of the car and will be readily accessible to receive the removable operating handle H. By this arrangement, the closures 17 have imparted thereto a straight-line mW-Jement to and tl'rom the angle iron 17", and each of said'olosures is o )erated individuall throu hout 7 the series, rollers 22-3 being disposed to engage the under portion of the closure between the outer edges of the racks 18 and the longitudi- 1 result, there is provided a plurality of pivoted locking levers 26eacheq'ujippcd with the irregula'rhooked end 27'. The hooked ends of the lockingleve rs, when in the position shown in Fi 'ure 7 en a e the nuts 25 to look i 23 7 23 V tween the beams B and hasone end'extend- V of engageinentwiththe nuts 25, as shown in the shafts 20 against rotation; These levers 26 are carried by and movable with the rock shaft 28, which shaft 28, asshown, is mounted between the beams B adjacent the under side of. the floor, as illustrated in Figure 5, and carries the opposite locking lever 26 of the shaft 20 at the opposite side of the floor of the car. All of the shafts throughout the length of the car and upon both sideslot' the beam 13 may be simultaneously locked or released by means of arms 29, each of which has one end secured to one of the-shafts 28 and its other end attached to a rod 30 which extends throughout the length of the car be ing through an opening8l in the cross-beam 32 at either end :of the car, as particularly illustrated in Figures 7, 8 and 9. The end of therod '30which' projects through the opening 31 is provided with an operating handle i 33 by means of which the rod may be longitudinally shifted to sin'iultaneously move the hooked ends 2'Z of the levers 26 into and out Figure '7', to thus lockfthe shafts 20 against rotation, or to release them so that the same may "e operated one at a time to open or close thedo'ors or closures 17.

5 In order to provide a means for sealing the rod 30, asis the usual practice in freight departments of various railroads, a support 34' is connected to the beam 32 at the outer face thereof and carries a. pin 35 'upon' which swingingly mounted a plate orarm 36. This arm 36is-1provided with an aperture 37 which is adapted to coinoide'withthe handler 33 when the device is inlocked *p ositionso'that the wire 38 maybe placed throughthe handle and the opening 37 and the lead seal 39 be compressed to thus seal the look, so that only authorized persons may break the seal to actuate the rod 30 and release the movable locking members 26 from the shal't-carried locking members-25;

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings, it is evident that a box-car equipped with the present loading and unloading facilities maybe loadedfrom the top with the material to be trans ported, such, for instance, as Wheat or other grain, at one terminal of the railroad, and may be unloaded at the receiving point, in

many cases, the other terminalofthe railroad. In this type of car, when the'closures 17 have been moved to open position to release the cargo, a'certai'n amount oi the cargo will remain upon the floor ll, thus necessitating the'shoveling or sweeping of the same from theaspaces between the openings 15 due to the action oi the cargo in passing, by

gravity, through the openings, there usually being pyramidal formations of the cargo disposed at each of these blank spaces which require removal manually or otherwise through said openings. When the cargo has been unloaded at the receiving terminal. tlie car ma be loaded with a car o, as, for instance, coal or coke, which it is desirable, to ship to the.

opposite terminal of the line, thus with a car of tl'llSlJYPG, there is no necesslty'ot returning the same empty, as is the practice in'grain shipment in the northern part of the United States and Canada at the present It will also be apparent that box-cars .provided with this type of loading and unloading mechanism are notrendered"undesirable for the shipment of other goods, as the ears maybe provided'withthe usual side and end openings, so that various classes or cargoes, as automobiles, lumber, etc;, may also bejcar- What is claimed is "'11 A freight box-car the is provided with a plurality of unloading ,openin gs, a slidable' closure mounted beneath each of said openings, manually operable means for operating each one of said closures,

bottom of which 7 a locking device for each one of said operat mg means, and means for s1multaneously opcrating allot saidlock ng devices so that all r of the closure operating means may .be-loeked' or releasedsimultaneously.

below the'fioor to sealsaid openings, a'plu- 'rality of sha fts,'one for each of said closures,

each of said shafts journaled in the beam and operable from the exterior of the car, coop erative means carried by each plate and its associated shaft whereby the plate is reciprocated to control the opening, cooperative locking means carried by one end of each of the shafts and the beam, and manually controlled means for operating said locking means to lock or release the shafts.

3. A freight car having a beam disposed longitudinally and centrally below the floor thereof, said floor being provided with a plurality of unloading openings at one side of said beam, a pair of guides disposed below the floor of the car adjacent eachopening, a fiat plate closure mounted in each pair of guides for movement below the floor to seal said openings, a shaft journaled in the beam and operable from the exterior of the car, cooperative means carried by the plates and the shaft for moving said plates into and out of position to close said openings, anti-frictional means carried by the beam and engaging the under side of the plates to prevent the flex ing thereof during the movement of the plates, cooperative locklng means carrled by one end of the shaft and the beam, and man ually controlled means for operating said locking means to lock or release the sh aft.

4. A box-car having a floor provided with a plurality of unloading openings, longitudinally disposed beams supporting the floor adjacent the center and the side edges thereof, a flat closure mounted for sliding move ment below the floor and adjacent each opening, a pair of rack bars attached to each cloi sure, a plurality of shafts journaled in the beams, one to each closure, gears carried by each shaft and engaging theracks for moving said closures into andout of closing position, the outer ends of the shafts being proj ected exteriorly of the side edge beams to permit the actuation of the exterior of the car, cooperative locking means carried by each shaft and the central beam of the car, and a longitudinally shiftable rod.

mounted adjacent the centerbeam and accessible from the end of the car for actuating. the locking means and simultaneously look ing or releasing all of the shafts.

5. A box-car having a floor provided with a plurality of unloading openings, longitudinally disposed beams supporting the floor adjacent the center and the side edges thereof, a flatclosure mounted for sliding movement below the floor and adjacent each opening, a-

closures from the V pair of rackbars attached to each closure, a

shaft and engaging the racks whereby the roplurality of shafts journaled in the beams, one to each closure, gears carried by each tation of theshaft reciprocates the closures, j

the outer ends of the shafts being projected.

the actuation of the closures from the extenor of the car, cooperatlve locking means car:

the car, a longitudinally shiftable rod mount- ,exteriorly of the side. edge beams to permit .65 'ried by each shaft and the central beam of ed adjacent the center beam and accessible p from the end of'the car for actuating the locking means and simultaneously locking or releasing all of'the shafts, and co-operative seal-receiving means carried by the rod andby the car for securing the rod against unauthorized movement. 7 V v v In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. v 1

JOHNSTON ProRTEnL I 

